Republicans Continue Evisceration of Senate’s Constitutional Duties

March 7, 2019

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kristen Voorhees, [email protected], 202.548.7166

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s party-line advancement of nominees Michael Park and Joseph Bianco to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit:

“Advancing Park and Bianco continues the Republican Majority’s evisceration of the Senate’s constitutional duty to review nominees thoroughly and serve as an effective check on the executive branch. The Park and Bianco nominations will increase the number of circuit court nominees opposed by both home-state senators to 10 – a record high. This must stop.

“The Senate Majority is tearing down the process to place right-wing ideologues on the bench for decades to come. Park politicized the 2020 Census by defending the harmful citizenship question, attempted to limit equal opportunities in university admissions for underrepresented communities of color, and worked to restrict reproductive health care access for women.

“Any senator who votes to advance Park and Bianco is abdicating their responsibility to protect civil and human rights for all. Senators must reject these nominees and preserve their crucial role in protecting the judiciary.”

The Leadership Conference’s letter in opposition to the confirmation of Michael Park is here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.